Category Archives: Democrat

L.L. Bean has just added a third shift at its factory in Brunswick, Maine, in an attempt to keep up with demand for its iconic boot.

Orders have quadrupled in the past few years as the boots have become more popular among a younger, more urban crowd.

The company says it saw the trend coming and tried to prepare, but orders outpaced projections. They expect to sell 450,000 pairs of boots in 2014.

People hoping to have the boots in time for Christmas are likely going to be disappointed. The bootsare back ordered through February and even March.

"I've been told it's a good problem to have but I"m disappointed that customers not getting what they want as quickly as they want," said Senior Manufacturing Manager Royce Haines.

Customers like, Mary Clifford, tried to order boots on line, but they were back ordered until January.

"I was very surprised this is what they are known for and at Christmas time you can't get them when you need them," said Clifford.

People who do have boots are trying to capitalize on the shortage and are selling them on Ebay at a much higher cost.

L.L. Bean says it has hired dozens of new boot makers, but it takes up to six months to train someone to make a boot.

The company has also spent a million dollars on new equipment to try and keep pace with demand.

Some customers are having luck at the retail stores. They have a separate inventory, and while sizes are limited, those stores have boots on the shelves.

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When is the DNC in Chicago and why it could be a focal point following Biden-Trump debate - NBC Chicago

Thursday nights debate was, and I dont say this lightly, a disaster without any conceivable parallel in modern American political history for President Joe Biden, the Democratic Party, and anyone who cares about the future of our flawed but vital democracy. The presidents performance on CNN was nightmarishly confused and worrisome. And unless he wants to be buried right next to Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a tiny cemetery full of people who invited widespread calamity because they did not know when to quit, he needs to drop out of this race immediately. Despite the fact that we are less than two months away from the start of the Democratic National Convention, there is still plenty of time for Biden to withdraw from the race and make way for someone, anyone, to take his place. Dont listen to those who say theres no timethe only thing that cant happen is for Biden to go back in time and not run in the first place. Every other option is, and now should be, very much on the table.

There is no denying that we are in uncharted territory, and that a change at the top of the ticket 67 days from the Democratic National Convention would be logistically challenging and potentially divisive, to put it lightly. This isnt anyones dream scenarionot Bidens, not whoever would replace him, and certainly not ours. No one would intentionally put Democrats in a situation where their nominee would be someone who got zero votes and zero delegates in a race they skipped, and the analysts who have been warning about what a mess it would be arent entirely wrong. But the fact that the path to a new nominee who can campaign vigorously against the menace of Donald Trump is difficult is no longer enough reason not to take it. The cold reality of the matter is that many people would be tempted to call 911 if their parents or grandparents showed up to dinner sounding like Biden did Thursday night. Thats no way to head into the most consequential election of our lifetimes unless Democrats are just resigned to losing. And I, for one, am not.

There are essentially three paths to a new Democratic nominee, and all are completely unprecedented. For all of American history, even when modern medicine was still a twinkle in everyones eye, neither party has had to replace a presumptive nominee this close to the election. It might seem crazy, but one path is: Biden could simply resign. And in many ways, this is the easiest and simplest route to a new nominee. When he got back to the White House after the debate, he must have seen or been briefed on the cable news roundtables, the Twitter chatter, and the general atmosphere of total panic that his cataclysmic performance caused in Democratic circles all over the country. Even if, up to that very moment, he truly believed that he was the only person in the country who could beat Donald Trump, he surely cannot believe it any longer unless he has descended into a state of unreachable delusion.

If Biden were to resign, making Vice President Kamala Harris the president, it would instantly resolve any looming debate about what would happen at the Chicago convention in August. A President Harris would have six weeks to build momentum, shore up the partys coalition, and lean into the inherent gravitas of the presidency. Freed from the constraints of the vice presidency, she might just prove a lot of doubters wrong about her political skills. If Harris were even a teeny-tiny bit more popular, there wouldnt be any question about anointing her whatsoever, and it is worth noting that her net disapproval is now lower than either Trumps or Bidens, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Making Harris the president wouldnt turn her into the nominee by acclamation, but it would be very hard for anyone else to compete with her. Bidens delegates would be released, and given that they are loyalists, most of them would likely do whatever he says. If he said, Kamala Harris is now the president and the presumptive nominee; lets unite around her, thats what would happen, without question. It is truly difficult to see how she could do any worse than Biden at this point.

The second path is more complicated. Biden could, instead of resigning, take the LBJ path and say that he has decided not to run for a second term. He could cite health reasons, or family reasonshis only surviving son, after all, was just convicted of three felony countsor say that he has had some kind of epiphany about the need to pass the baton to a younger generation of Americans. And if Kamala Harris isnt the president by the middle of July, she would have no actual claim on the nomination, nor should she. She didnt run, no one voted for her, and if Biden doesnt endorse her, she would just be one contender among many.

The crucial detail is that if and when Biden drops out, his delegates are free to do as they please. And given the looming ballot deadlines in many states, Democrats would probably not have the luxury of waiting until the convention to figure this out. A furious competition would erupt, immediately, between nominees-in-waiting like Harris, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. The target audience wouldnt be ordinary primary voters like you and me, since the primary contests are now 100 percent over, but rather the pledged delegates, as well as the so-called superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention. Thanks to reforms instituted in the wake of the bitter 2016 primary between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, the latter group is prohibited from weighing in on the first ballot at the convention but would definitely come into play in any scenario in which Biden drops out and Harris isnt the president.

The Democratic National Committee would need to devise, in very short order, some kind of process by which the conventions delegates could vote well in advance of the actual convention that begins on Aug. 19, to avoid kneecapping that nominee. The good thing is that theres no law, internal rule, or other obstacle to stop this from happening. In fact, the DNC had already been planning to officially nominate Biden and Harris as the ticket well in advance of the actual convention anyway, to get around an Ohio problem that no longer exists. Democrats were in a panic about the states Aug. 7 filing deadline for candidatesbefore the convention. The deadline meant that if Democrats didnt move up their official nomination from Aug. 19 to before Aug. 7, Biden would not appear on the Ohio ballot in November. So they moved the official nomination up in the calendar accordingly. But Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a bill in May ensuring that Biden would appear on the ballot anyway.

If they can move up the nomination process that easily, they can also move whatever mountains need to be moved here. They could make the convention virtual and move it up in the calendar. They could hold a series of snap debates between the leading contenders and have the delegates vote in late July or early August. Folks, the DNC is not in the U.S. Constitution, and it can do pretty much whatever it wants.

But it is also possible that Biden cant or wont read the writing on the wall and refuses to bail. In that case, it is up to his own delegates to do the right thing. The DNCs Rule 13, Section J says, Delegates elected to the national convention pledged to a presidential candidate shall in good conscience reflect the sentiment of those who elected them. That is a loophole big enough to drive the worlds ugliest Cybertruck through, because Bidens delegates watched the same debate that the rest of us did and must surely be feeling the same sense of dread and helplessness. And there is nothing in the DNCs rules that would stop them from voting for someone else at the convention, or at some kind of accelerated gathering next month. Thats what good conscience means, and the architects of these rules must have had, at least dimly, some kind of scenario like this in mind: a doddering nominee, in failing health or deteriorating mental condition, who refuses to accept the reality of the situation. Thats where we are. And while it still seems unlikely that Bidens delegates would do this, even after Thursday nights horror show, it doesnt make it impossible.

Even Wednesday, it would have been hard to imagine writing this article, given the closeness of the race. But the bottom line is that the stakes of this election are too high to hope that Biden can recover from his debate fiasco. He cant, and he wont. And because there is no guarantee that the United States will recover from a Trump restoration, the time to act is now, and every Democrat in the country needs to work together, starting Friday morning, to push Biden aside. Anything else is pure, self-destructive madness.

Slate wants to help.Submit your questions here. Its anonymous! No question is too dumbor too existential.

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Presidential debate on CNN: How Democrats can replace Biden as the nominee. - Slate

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. addressed the possibility of replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee.

Biden is facing calls from many Democrats to step aside following a poorly received debate performance against former President Donald Trump on Thursday night. Biden's voice sounded hoarse, and he mumbled throughout many of his answers, doing little to dispel concerns about his age among swing voters as Trump was widely perceived as having more energy throughout the night.

Biden's debate performance sent Democrats into a panic as they fear he may not be a strong candidate to go against Trump in the November election. Many Democrats are now saying he should be replaced ahead of the Democratic convention scheduled for August.

Kennedy, who previously challenged Biden in the Democratic primary before changing his party affiliation to independent, was pressed by NewsNation's Chris Cuomo about whether he would be open to replacing Biden as the nominee.

Cuomo said Biden is "in freefall," and that Kennedy being the Democratic nominee could "really solve their problems and yours at the same time."

He asked: "Would you be open to talking to them if they reached out to you?"

"Of course I would talk to them. It would put me on the ballot with nobody trying to get me off," Kennedy responded, adding that he believes the Democratic National Committee would otherwise try to get him removed from the ballot in states across the country.

However, Kennedy would find himself at odds with Democratic voters on key issues, such as the COVID-19 vaccination. He has also given mixed statements about abortion, a key issue for Democrats.

He did not participate in the debate, as CNN said he did not meet their qualifications. Instead, he hosted his own version of the presidential debate.

It remains unclear whether Democrats would consider Kennedy as a potential replacement for Biden, should he decide to step down from the campaign. Pundits have listed several potential replacements, such as Vice President Kamala Harris, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Newsweek reached out to the Biden and Kennedy campaigns for comment via email.

In order for Biden to be replaced at the top of the ticket this late in the campaign, he would likely have to pull out of the race. It is unclear whether he could lose the nomination in a contested convention, and he has won the vast majority of Democratic delegates during the primary season.

Biden is on track to be confirmed as the party's 2024 nominee at the Democratic convention in Chicago in August after winning 3,904 of the available 3,949 delegates. A candidate needs 1,968 delegates to become the nominee.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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RFK Jr. Addresses Possibility of Taking Joe Biden's Spot on Democrat Ticket - Newsweek

Republican Will Scharf and Democrat Elad Gross disagreed on almost every issue Monday night during a forum of attorney general candidates in St. Louis.

They arent on the same page on dealing with violent crime or protecting speech on campus. They crossed swords over abortion rights and access to contraception. And they couldnt agree on the integrity of the 2020 presidential election.

But Scharf and Gross were in lock step on one issue: They believe state government is being manipulated by special interests, to the detriment of Missouri taxpayers. And both point the finger directly at the incumbent attorney general, Andrew Bailey.

Elad and I agree that Jefferson City is viciously corrupt, Scharf said, adding: The political class in this state has fundamentally failed the people of Missouri.

Gross quipped during the forum that, I told you were going to agree on a lot of stuff today, going on to declare that the Missouri attorney generals office needs to create a public corruption unit.

The idea drew applause from the audience and from Scharf.

We need to have serious enforcement against corruption in Missouri, Gross said.

The pair are hoping to replace Bailey, a Republican running for a full term in office after being appointed to the job by Gov. Mike Parson in 2022.

Bailey did not attend Mondays forum, citing scheduling conflicts. The event was sponsored by the Federalist Society, a conservative legal advocacy group whose leadership has largely backed Scharf and has been involved in almost every high-profile conservative judicial appointment of recent decades.

Gross is running unopposed in the Aug. 6 Democratic primary, while Scharf and Bailey are engaged in a heated GOP contest, with the massive fundraising hauls translating into a nasty TV ad war across the state.

One of Scharfs main lines of attack has been Bailey taking donations from lobbyists and companies whose interests intersect with the attorney generals office.

For example, last year the attorney general had to recuse his office from litigation filed by companies accused of operating illegal gambling devices, forcing the state to hire private counsel. The recusal came after Bailey received thousands in contributions from PACs connected to the chief lobbyist for the companies suing the state.

Bailey also drew fire over accepting a $50,000 donation from a St. Louis company shortly after filing an amicus brief backing its efforts to move a lead-poisoning lawsuit it was facing out of Missouri.

When you look at Jefferson City today, Scharf said Monday, you see a political culture thats deeply in hock to a very narrow set of special interests and lobbyists and political insiders.

Bailey has denied any wrongdoing, and his campaign has noted that Scharfs bid for attorney general is being bankrolled by out-of-state interests, namely conservative activist Leonard Leo.

On Tuesday, an organization connected with Leo donated $2 million to support Scharfs candidacy. Since joining the race for attorney general, Scharf has benefited from $3.5 million in donations from the organization, making up a majority of the money hes received in the race.

Gross is a former assistant attorney general who currently runs his own law firm in St. Louis.His legal practice focuses on the Sunshine Law. In 2021, he won a landmark ruling from the Missouri Supreme Court that public agencies could not charge for time attorneys spend reviewing public records that are requested under the states Sunshine Law.

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Bailey served a general counsel for Parson before taking over as attorney general when his predecessor, Eric Schmitt, won a seat in the U.S. Senate. He previously worked as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Warren County, an assistant attorney general and general counsel for the Missouri Department of Corrections.

Scharf is a former assistant U.S. attorney who worked as policy director in Gov. Eric Greitens brief administration.He left state government when Greitens was forced to resign in disgrace in 2018. He is currently part of a the team of lawyers representing former President Donald Trump in various legal matters pertaining to his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The rest is here:

Missouri GOP and Democrat AG rivals agree on one thing: state government is 'viciously corrupt' Missouri Independent - Missouri Independent

Once again, Democrats are panicking over whether President Biden should be their nominee, after his shaky and often faltering debate performance against former president Donald Trump on Thursday.

Biden has given no indication that he is planning to step aside, and few Democrats have been willing to publicly suggest he should. But there are paths by which Democrats can replace him, including whether he voluntarily steps down or not. (Note that the process for replacing Donald Trump on the Republican ticket would follow much the same path, though it seems unlikely either man will be removed at this stage.)

Here is a look at four different scenarios by which Biden could be replaced at the top of the ticket, including both before and after Election Day.

Has a candidate been

nominated yet?

Biden is the presumptive nominee, but he could still be replaced at the convention whether he chooses to step aside or not.

Has a candidate been

nominated yet?

Biden is the presumptive nominee, but he could still be replaced at the convention whether he chooses to step aside or not.

The easiest way for Democrats to replace Biden is to do it at their August convention especially if he agrees to step aside.

Doing so is primarily a question of party rules and party law, said Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. It is not in the Constitution, its not in state law, its not in federal law. It is mostly in party law.

In this scenario, delegates would arrive at the convention uncommitted to Biden and they would then back another nominee in whats known as an open convention where multiple candidates can compete for the nomination on the fly, according to Kamarck, who has also served as a Democratic delegate multiple times.

It has been decades since such a convention has occurred, but its not unprecedented. In the 1960 Democratic National Convention, for instance, multiple candidates jockeyed for delegates before then-Sen. John F. Kennedy secured the nod.

If Biden refuses to step down, its still possible, albeit unlikely, that a challenger emerges who tries to convince delegates to back them instead, per Kamarck.

The party chair can call the national committee into

session to pick a new nominee.

The party chair can call the national committee into session to pick a new nominee.

Once the convention ends, the campaign enters a new phase, where it becomes more challenging to replace Biden, but not impossible. According to Kamarck, the party has rules that empower the party chairman to call the national committee into session to pick a new nominee.

In fact, Democrats actually did this after the 1972 convention when they replaced Sen. Tom Eagleton, George McGoverns running mate, because of concerns about his health.

If this were to happen again in 2024, however, it could face serious logistical and legal hurdles as ballot deadlines may have already passed and early voting begun in some states.

Did the electoral college

vote for a candidate yet?

The party can ask the electors to vote for the vice president-elect or an alternate candidate but they must abide by state rules.

Did the electoral college

vote for a candidate yet?

The party can ask the electors to vote for the vice president-elect or an alternate candidate but they must abide by state rules.

In the event that Biden wins the election, but is then incapacitated before the electoral college votes on Dec. 17, there is still a path for Democrats to replace him, but this is where things get tricky. There is no federal-level process for replacing a president-elect during this time.

Its kind of a murky situation, Kamarck said. My guess is that what both sets of electors would do is theyd probably vote for the vice-presidential candidate, but they are not required to.

State rules on how this would work vary, according to Kamarck, with some states requiring electors to vote for the person who they were voted to elect. If this were to happen, it would likely be chaotic. You could see some strange outcomes, Karmack said.

Has that candidate taken

the oath of office?

The vice president is

first in the line of

succession according

to the U.S. Constitution

and the Presidential

Succession Act of 1947.

According to Section 3 of the 20th Amendment, the vice president-elect

becomes president.

Has that candidate taken

the oath of office?

The vice president is

first in the line of

succession according

to the U.S. Constitution

and the Presidential

Succession Act of 1947.

According to Section 3 of the 20th

Amendment, the vice president-elect

becomes president.

In the event Biden is incapacitated after the electoral college has voted, things are actually more straightforward than in the previous scenario.

In this situation, the Constitution stipulates in Section 3 of the 20th Amendment that the vice president-elect becomes president. Similarly, if Biden were to become incapacitated after the inauguration, the vice president would become president, as stipulated in both the Constitution and Presidential Succession Act of 1947.

Colby Itkowitz and Amy Gardner contributed to this report. Illustration by Ben Kirchner.

Excerpt from:

How Joe Biden could be replaced as the 2024 Democratic nominee - The Washington Post

President Joe Bidens debate performance is raising new questions about whether Democrats have any other options in November if the 81-year-old president is no longer willing or able to campaign.

With Biden having already secured a presumptive nomination, Democrats prospects for a course change are diminishing.

Speaking hoarsely and suffering from what aides said was a cold, Biden spoke Thursday in a halting and sometimes disjointed manner, a performance that is only renewing concerns about his ability to serve four more years. Biden told reporters afterward he will stay in the race.

He did get stronger as the debate went on but by that time, I think the panic had set in, David Axelrod, a former campaign strategist to President Barack Obama, said on CNN. And I think youre going to hear discussions that I dont know will lead to anything but there are going to be discussions about whether he should continue.

Heres how those discussions could play out.

Yes. Most recently, President Lyndon Johnson decided not to seek re-nomination for a second full term in 1968, as Vietnam War protests mounted. In an Oval Office speech, Johnson made the surprise announcement that I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your president.

But that was at the end of March extremely late even before the modern nomination calendar became as front-loaded as it is today. Unlike Johnson, Biden has already secured enough delegates for the nomination.

It would be difficult. Biden faced minimal opposition in his partys primaries and has secured 99% of the pledged delegates to the convention. Those delegates will be chosen in large part for their loyalty to the president. Absent extraordinary circumstances and a backup plan its unlikely they would remove him from the ticket.

Any challenger to Biden would have to announce his or her candidacy before the formal vote, publicly challenging the incumbent in a high-stakes attempted party coup.

Soon.

The Democratic National Committee had already planned to move up Bidens nomination via a phoned-in roll call ahead of the convention to satisfy an Aug. 7 ballot deadline in Ohio. The Republican-led Ohio legislature has extended that deadline, but the Democratic Chairman Jaime Harrison has said the party will go forward with the early roll call anyway, making the convention which begins August 19 a mere formality.

The decision to replace him would be made by the members of the DNC. But then the party would face another hurdle: Printed ballots with Bidens name already on them.

Laws vary by state about how a vote for Biden would be counted if hes no longer the nominee, but his votes would likely go to his replacement when the Electoral College meets.

Vice President Kamala Harris is the most logical heir apparent, but it wouldnt be automatic.

Other candidates waiting in the wings who deferred to Biden and continue to publicly support him include California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

None of those candidates have polled any better against Trump than Biden does, according to a Bloomberg News/Morning Consult poll of seven battleground states.

Modern presidential campaigns are hugely expensive undertakings, and financial considerations would play no small role.

Bidens campaign and party had $212 million cash on hand at the end of May, and that money would be available to Harris should she take over the top of the ticket. Any other candidate would likely have to start from scratch.

Bidens campaign and the Democratic Party have already spent about $346 million trying to re-elect Biden. Picking another candidate could require spending even more money to introduce a new name to voters.

See the original post here:

Democrats have begun to talk about replacing Biden for the 2024 election - Fortune

Were testing using AI-powered tools to provide an audio version of this story. While this audio recording is machine-generated, the story was written by human journalists. Read more on our AI policy.

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WASHINGTON President Joe Bidens unsteady performance at Thursdays presidential debate has sparked a wave of anxiety among Texas Democrats, some of whom fear their partys standard bearer could drag down the rest of the ticket and cost Democrats down-ballot seats in November.

Even Bidens allies and supporters in Texas acknowledged the debate was a disaster. The president, who hoped to quell concerns about his acuity and fitness for office, routinely struggled to muster up complete sentences and often wove multiple points together, muddling his message. The performance overshadowed the debates substance, including former President Donald Trumps support for rolling back abortion rights and refusal to disavow the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol issues where Texas Democrats hope to seize the upper hand this fall.

Biden had a very low bar going into the debate and failed to clear even that bar, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julin Castro said on social media. Castro, a former San Antonio mayor, faced Biden in the 2020 Democratic primary. He seemed unprepared, lost, and not strong enough to parry effectively with Trump, who lies constantly.

State Rep. Ron Reynolds, a Missouri City Democrat who will be a delegate at the Democratic National Convention, called for Vice President Kamala Harris to replace Biden as the nominee. Reynolds, who chairs the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, wrote on social media that he was "VERY disturbed" by the debate and shared a screenshot of an op-ed headline that argued Biden's "mental capacity is an election issue."

Two-thirds of debate viewers polled by CNN after the debate said they thought Trump outperformed Biden, though only a small fraction of those who backed Biden before the debate say they would now consider voting for Trump.

Statewide polls show Biden trailing Trump by a wider margin than at any point in the state four years ago, and Democrats worry that a further slip could torpedo their chances in key races, including U.S. Rep. Colin Allreds challenge to U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and several GOP-controlled state House seats they are targeting. The fate of these largely unknown down-ballot candidates is closely linked to their partys success atop the ticket, where presidential nominees are more visible to everyday voters and have far more money to drive turnout.

I think that if you are a down-ballot candidate in a swing area, that candidate's responsibility for turnout becomes even bigger than it was before yesterday, said Ed Espinoza, a Democratic strategist who previously oversaw the progressive group Progress Texas. You're gonna need an extra push.

Allreds campaign and social media was silent throughout the debate. The Dallas Democrat declined to comment after leaving the U.S. House chamber on Friday, saying he was still processing the debate.

U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, an El Paso Democrat who serves as a national co-chair on Bidens campaign, said it was not the night any of us wanted. Still, she expressed more dismay that reporters were not further challenging Trumps comments about migrants coming from prisons and asylums, which she described as beyond vile. Escobar said she still had confidence that Biden could counter Trumps remarks in the future.

U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, acknowledged that Biden underperformed, but warned members of his party to be cautious before declaring the presidents reelection effort dead.

I don't think members should say anything that they will regret later before everybody's had a chance to just kind of chill a little bit, he said.

Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, delighted at Bidens debate performance, immediately using it to target Democratic congressional candidates who had endorsed Bidens fitness. The National Republican Congressional Committee didnt hesitate to unearth an old quote by Democratic Rep. Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen, where he said Biden was healthy, hes sharp, hes a full package.

Vicente Gonzalez has supported Joe Biden every step of the way in his open border and inflationary policies and now as Biden mentally struggles to do the job as president, former U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores, who is challenging Gonzalez for the 34th district, said in a text message. Now is not the time for feeble leadership from Biden or blind yes men like Gonzalez.

Bidens age could be particularly effective among Hispanic voters, who are on average the youngest ethnic group in the country, said Giancarlo Sopo, a Republican media strategist. The only U.S. races targeted by national party groups are in majority Hispanic districts in South Texas.

It just confirmed what all Americans already know: that he is a feeble man not able to perform the duties of his position, said U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, R-McAllen, who is facing a competitive challenge from Democrat Michelle Vallejo to keep her seat in the 15th district.

Republicans are hoping to flip two U.S. House district seats this year in South Texas the 34th and the 28th districts and are investing heavily to hold onto the 15th district. National Democrats are also showing early interest in the Senate race in Texas for the first time in decades, identifying the state as their most likely flippable seat in a largely difficult map for Democrats this year.

But Democrats retort that their congressional candidates dont tie themselves closely to Biden anyway. U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar, a Laredo Democrat in the 28th district, and Gonzalez both routinely vote against their party, voting with Republicans on issues ranging from the border to energy regulation. Allred voted for a Republican resolution condemning Bidens handling of the border, though he later reversed course on a similar resolution.

In Harris County, where Republicans have gained recent momentum after losing political control, GOP Chair Cindy Siegel said her party would do everything it can to tie Democrats to Bidens most glaring weaknesses, from inflation to immigration. Siegel also predicted that Trump would help us succeed and win our down-ballot races a striking change in posture from just four years ago, when Biden carried Harris County by 13 points over Trump.

I fully expect that [Trumps] going to do a lot better than he did back in 2020, Siegel said, arguing that national polls showing stronger support for Trump among Black and Hispanic voters would be borne out in Harris Countys diverse pool of voters.

Siegel's counterpart, Harris County Democratic Party Chair Mike Doyle, said the "Democratic brand" remains popular in Texas' largest county and "is only going to grow more compelling as we head into November." Many of Harris County's Democratic law enforcement leaders, judges and other local officials are up for reelection in the fall.

"To those who say that President Biden might drag down these great candidates, I would point to the delivered promises on infrastructure, protecting our interests abroad, and standing up for basic human rights for decades," Doyle said in a statement.

Democratic state lawmakers and legislative candidates stayed largely silent throughout Thursday's debate, mostly resharing other posts that called out Trumps repeated falsehoods and criticized the debate format for letting said falsehoods run unchecked. State Rep. John Bucy of Austin, one of the few Democrats in the Legislature who said anything during the debate, wrote that Trump, in claiming credit for the demise of Roe v. Wade, was directly responsible for Texas extreme abortion ban.

Abortion rights are perhaps the leading issue for Texas Democrats up and down the ballot, including at the Texas Supreme Court, which has upheld the states abortion bans. A political group called Find Out PAC is targeting three GOP justices over the issue, highlighting the court's move to reject a Dallas woman's request to obtain an abortion for a nonviable pregnancy that her doctors said threatened her health and future fertility.

The PACs leader, former Under Secretary of the Air Force Gina Ortiz Jones, expressed optimism in the wake of Bidens poor performance, citing Trumps abortion comments.

"Last night, we saw why Texans should be alarmed, motivated, and optimistic about ousting Texas Supreme Court Justices Jimmy Blacklock, John Devine, and Jane Bland, Jones, a former Texas congressional candidate, said in a statement. Trump brags about eliminating Roe, but these justices are more extreme. Theyve shown that medical exceptions can exist on paper, but not in reality.

Though Texas is a national priority for U.S. House and Senate races this cycle, the Biden campaign has not put much focus into flipping the state. Texas voted for Trump by 5.6 points in 2020, and Biden remains deeply unpopular in the state.

Espinoza, the Democratic strategist, said the lack of national investment and the possibility of an unpopular president dragging down the rest of the ticket is nothing new for Texas Democrats.

Its not like there have been a ton of coattails to ride in years past, he said.

Gonzalez said he expected to overcome GOP attacks by touting his record over four terms in Congress.

The problem with [Republicans] strategy is people in my district know me well, and tie me to $9 Billion dollars in Federal funding Ive delivered, funding that has created jobs and is transforming South Texas infrastructure, healthcare & education, Gonzalez said in a text message. And they tie [Flores] to the fact that she was a 5 month special election fluke that embarrassed South Texans by not offering a single bill or proposal that would improve lives and not delivering a single dollar in resources during her short tenure.

The collective Democratic panic has led to questions about whether Biden should remain at the top of the ticket. On his podcast Friday, Cruz, who characterized Bidens performance as an old man on his front porch screaming get off my front porch, theorized former First Lady Michelle Obama could be tapped in a last minute salve for the Democrats.

The party still hasnt officially named its nominee. If Biden does step down, party delegates would determine their pick at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.

Biden, who said he had a sore throat during the debate, attempted to assuage concerns at a campaign rally in North Carolina on Friday. Appearing considerably more alert and using a more forceful tone than during the debate, Biden said he would not be running unless he firmly believed himself capable of the job.

A campaign spokesperson for Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, said the North Carolina rally was a "much stronger reflection of the leader Americans have seen over the last three and a half years. The dynamics last night were not favorable, and the president was clearly taken aback by the extent that Trump was willing to lie about his record in front of a national audience."

"I don't walk as easily as I used to. I don't speak as smoothly as I used to. I don't debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know. I know how to tell the truth, Biden said to the crowd. "When you get knocked down, you get back up."

Disclosure: Progress Texas has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

Just in: Former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming; U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania; and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt will take the stage at The Texas Tribune Festival, Sept. 57 in downtown Austin. Buy tickets today!

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Down ballot Texas Dems worry Biden debate hurts them, too - The Texas Tribune

President Biden's odds of being the Democratic Party's 2024 presidential election candidate slumped by nearly 30 percent in the immediate aftermath of his debate with Donald Trump on Thursday night, according to one betting website.

The price of a share for Biden being the candidate on Predict It fell from 85 cents immediately before the debate to 61 cents when it had concluded, representing a fall of 28.2 percent, though it did later recover somewhat to 72 cents.

During the debate, which took place in Atlanta and was hosted by CNN, Biden appeared to lose his chain of thoughts several times sparking renewed concern over the 81-year-old's health and mental acumen. According to CNN chief national correspondent John King, his performance has sparked "panic" within the Democratic Party, and his odds of winning the 2024 presidential election slumped sharply with a number of leading bookmakers.

The Predict It website is run as a research project by Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. It allows people to bet on the outcome of certain events by buying shares, valued at between 1 and 99 cents depending on the probability of them taking place. If an event does then occur the bet maker receives $1 for each share, meaning the higher the initial price, the more likely it is expected to take place by the website.

Predict It offers bets on "Who will win the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination?" Shares for Joe Biden in answer to this question were priced at 85 each before Thursday's debate but then fell to 61 cents after it completed showing the website's decreased confidence that he will be the nominee.

Newsweek contacted Joe Biden's 2024 presidential election campaign for comment by email.

U.K.-based betting company Betfair reduced the odds of Biden winning in November from 13/8 (38.1 percent) to 7/2 (22.2 percent) in the immediate aftermath of Thursday's debate.

During the same period, the odds of Trump achieving victory in November increased from 8/13 (61.9 percent) to 4/7 (63.6 percent) after the debate. The discrepancy between these two figures suggests an increase in bet makers who don't think Biden will be the Democratic presidential nominee come November.

Betfair spokesperson Sam Rosbottom told Newsweek: "Biden's disastrous head-to-head with Trump has seen punters rapidly lose faith that the incumbent president has another five years in him.

"The two men were neck-and-neck back in April; now, despite Trump's varying legal and financial headaches, he has the punters' firm backing to be the next U.S. president."

At one point during Thursday's debate, Biden appeared to lose his point while defending his record on immigration. He said: "I've changed it in a way that now, you're in a situation where there are 40 percent fewer people coming across the border illegally, it's better than when [Trump] left office. And I'm going to continue to move it until we get the total ban on...the total initiative relative to what we're going to do with more Border Patrol and more asylum officers."

In response, Trump replied: "I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either."

A second presidential debate between Biden and Trump is scheduled for 9 p.m. ET on September 10 and is to be hosted by ABC News.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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Joe Biden's Chances of Winning Democratic Nomination Fall 30% After Debate - Newsweek

People have been talking behind closed doors about President Joe Bidens cognitive decline for the past several years. After the Wall Street Journal published a story earlier this month raising concerns about Bidens health, Democrats slammed the article, deflected the criticism, and characterized it as a hit piece. But after his performance in the first presidential debate on Thursday night, party operatives were no longer able to hide the problem.

Now, as Democrats scramble to assess the damage, the question has turned to how or if the party will address Bidens candidacy crisis at the Democratic National Convention in August.

Theyve just been trying to skate to the general election with as minimal exposure as possible to the public. And now its blown up on them, said Thomas Kennedy, a former delegate to the Democratic National Committee who resigned in January over Bidens support for Israels war on Gaza. The delegates knew, the electeds knew, the donors knew, obviously the staffers know, he said. Everybody knew.

Efforts to raise concerns within the DNC about Bidens health have been definitively shut down for years, Kennedy said. One DNC member who suggested that another candidate should run in 2024 said he was attacked by other members and faced with a vote to remove him from the committee. Thats the sort of pushback that any sort of not just dissent, but any sort of mentioning of this topic has been happening for two years, Kennedy said.

Bidens campaign, for its part, made clear on Friday that he has no intention of backing down. Asked about his debate performance, campaign spokesperson Lauren Hitt emphasized that Biden would not be stepping down and pointed to the campaigns $14 million fundraising haul after the debate and a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday. He just gave a very forceful speech at a rally in NC with a fired up crowd, Hitt wrote to The Intercept. In comments made on Air Force One on Friday afternoon, Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler doubled down: Joe Biden is the nominee, Tyler said.

Current and former delegates told The Intercept there is little chance that the DNC would change course. The convention, the delegates said, would likely follow the same pro forma processes that have sidelined reform efforts and with them, the partys progressive wing. The convention has already moved the vote for the presidential nomination online, weeks before the actual convention is held in person in Chicago.

There are mechanisms to allow for an open convention to nominate another candidate, but the party has avoided that option as a last resort and it would be too late at this point, said Nadia Ahmad, a DNC member in Florida. Biden would have to decide to step aside on his own accord. Or, delegates would have to organize themselves quickly to commit to another candidate. Given that the nomination vote will take place ahead of the convention, Ahmad said that any open nomination process would have to take place online too, which is unlikely.

Theres definitely an appetite for what I would call the combustion factor, Ahmad said. People are willing to burn things down to maybe get them to work. Thats where you see the rise of a third party.

The convention has long stopped serving as a place for democratic decision-making, she added. The Democratic Party is more invested in trying to maintain control than it is in trying to win an election in November.

Another DNC member who requested anonymity to avoid reprisal said the debate only emphasized what progressives have been saying about the DNC in recent cycles. Unless Biden withdraws, the convention is a stage managed coronation.

Kennedy noted that the days of action-packed political conventions are far behind us. These are not the conventions of 1968 or 1972 that we read about, he said. Theyre just highly choreographed top-down affairs where theres not a lot of room for political maneuvering or opposing sides, or anything that strays away from the establishment. And the delegates are carefully chosen and funneled in a way that theyre part of the party machinery and hackery.

Days before the debate, the New York Times published a story about how the president was battling misleading videos showing his age-related deterioration. Very quickly into the debate on Thursday evening, Bidens campaign was battling on another front: how to stop the bleeding as coverage swirled about how the performance would affect his chances at winning the November election. During a routine, post-debate call with surrogates last night, campaign staff acknowledged that the debate was rocky, according to a source who attended. By the next day, the party apparatus was back to normal messaging.

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Can Anything Stop the Democratic National Convention From Being A Biden Coronation? - The Intercept

A former model accused Sean "Diddy" Combs of sexually assaulting her at his New York recording studio in 2003 in a lawsuit filed Tuesday. The woman said she was a 22-year-old model when she met Combs at a restaurant during Men's Fashion Week in Manhattan. The hip-hop mogul invited her to his recording studio later that night, according to the federal complaint filed in New York. The lawsuit claims the woman arrived to find Combs, now 54, drinking and smoking joints with several other men. She smoked some marijuana, which she "later came to understand" was laced with a narcotic or intoxicating substance, the lawsuit says. She felt as though she was floating. Combs led her to the bathroom, where the sexual assault took place, according to the lawsuit. Combs led her back to the studio and she lost consciousness, the lawsuit says. She later awakened in a taxi and realized that she had been sexually assaulted, according to the lawsuit. Combs' representatives did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment. The claim Tuesday was filed under a New York City law that allows accusers to file civil litigation during a limited window even if the claims happened long ago.

Authorities have opened an investigation into how Matthew Perry received the supply of ketamine that killed him, police said Tuesday. Los Angeles police are working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with a probe into why the "Friends" star had so much of the drug in his system, police Capt. Scot Williams said in an email. An assistant found the 54-year-old Perry face down in his hot tub Oct. 28, 2023, and paramedics who were called immediately declared him dead. His autopsy, released in December, found that the amount of ketamine in his blood was in the range used for general anesthesia during surgery. It was listed as the primary cause of death, which was ruled an accident with no foul play suspected, the report said. People close to the actor told coroner's investigators that he was undergoing ketamine infusion therapy. But the medical examiner said Perry's last treatment 1 weeks earlier wouldn't explain the levels of ketamine in his blood. The drug is typically metabolized in a matter of hours. At least two doctors were treating Perry, the medical examiner's report said. Neither illicit drugs nor paraphernalia was found at his house.

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Names and faces - Arkansas Online